


Hellboy's Soulmate

by Lilly_Bei_Stark



Category: Hellboy - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Golden Army Never Happened, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-19 01:09:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17591876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilly_Bei_Stark/pseuds/Lilly_Bei_Stark
Summary: Hellboy wants to find out who his soulmate is. John is afraid Hellboy wouldn't want a soulmate like him. Hellboy can feel John's emotions, but since John can keep them off his face, he's hiding pretty well. But is that the best idea?





	Hellboy's Soulmate

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Hellboy or the other characters in this fanfic. Just taking them out for a little fun.

Hellboy stared quietly at the mark on the knuckles of his stone hand. It was white, concentric circles, like a target. It almost glowed in the dim lighting of his room. A soulmate mark. Something that he'd never thought he would have. As a demon, he didn't think it was even possible for him to have a soulmate. Now he was sitting in his arm chair, staring at the irrefutable proof. He had a soulmate. He had met them. Touched them. And from that touch, his mark had blossomed, pure white on scarlet knuckles. He could feel the soft tug of a soul bond in his mind; muted emotions filtering into his senses. 

Whoever his soulmate was, they had a lot of emotions whirling around in them right now. Boredom was pretty high. Calm. And then an undercurrent of worry so persistent that Hellboy hadn't noticed the emotion wasn't his until the entire situation with Rasputin was over and done with. Something had kept his soulmate worried like this for weeks. Hellboy didn't like that. He wanted to feel happiness across their bond. He would love to make his soulmate happy. If he just knew who the hell it was!

Hellboy decided to ask for help. He would get Abe on board in a little bit. His psychic abilities would be perfect for a job like this. Of course, it would seem a little suspicious for the sapien to suddenly start walking the halls when he never had before. And Hellboy didn't need to spook the entire bureau. Manning would probably get annoying if he thought the "freaks" were up to something. So Abe probably wouldn't find his soulmate outside possible missions. 

Liz had already agreed to help. In the months since the Rasputin mess, the two of them had come to an agreement about their relationship. That kiss after the fight with Rasputin had been wonderful and all, but neither of them wanted to stand in the other's way of each other finding their soulmate. So Liz had kindly stepped back and offered to help Hellboy find his wayward mate. She hadn't found anything so far, though. Despite her best efforts, she could only see what people had on display. At the bureau that was usually hands and faces. Sometimes more if she could catch them in the gym or the pool. But so far, Liz hadn't found a single person with a target soul mark. 

That left one more person Hellboy could ask for help. Someone he knew was already making his way to Hellboy's room as the demon pondered how best to enlist his help. So, fighting to ignore the rising anxiety coming across his soul bond, Hellboy turned to face the vault door he knew was soon to open. 

The man outside didn't disappoint him. In moments, the vault door was slowly swinging open to admit the small agent pushing a large cart. John Myers gave Hellboy a grin as he shoved the cart of food into the room. Cats swarmed the little agent as he made his way towards the table. Hellboy spared a moment to admire how the young agent navigated the flood of cats with grace and not a single paw being caught beneath his foot. Part of Hellboy lamented that John couldn't be his soulmate. The lithe agent was cute and had proved himself loyal, even though Hellboy was often annoyed that such a fragile agent was putting himself into danger right by his side. John just didn't seem to get that he was mortal.

The agent quietly put bowls of spaghetti onto the table, gently shooing away the too curious cats that tried to get in on the feast. Hellboy watched him, but as usual he saw none of the worry on the agent's face that he felt through the soul bond. So it obviously wasn't John. He mentally shrugged and decided how to broach the subject with the agent. 

"I have a soul mark." He stated bluntly. John looked up at him, unruffled by the suddenness of Hellboy's admission. 

"I noticed." He replied. Rainbow flecked brown eyes lowered to the mark on Hellboy's knuckles. The demon raised a brow at him. He was surprised; the agent hadn't said anything. 

"I don't know who it is." Hellboy continued. He felt a frisson of surprised flutter across his soul bond as John leisurely leaned his hip against the table and loosely crossed his arms. 

"It's not Liz." John intoned, not a question, but a statement. His eyebrow rose at Hellboy. "Even though you love her more than anything." 

Hellboy shrugged. "No, it ain't Liz. But she's okay with that... I love her, but it ain't gotta be that way; we agreed on that. She's been tryin' to help me find who it is." More surprise crossed his soul bond and Hellboy spared a thought to wonder what his soulmate was up to. 

John continued to watch him with accepting curiosity. "You want me to help too." He stated knowingly. Hellboy rewarded him with one of his most cheerful grins that totally didn't look threatening in the vault's dim light. 

"You catch on fast, boyscout." His tail curled by his knee, unable to be still during the conversation. "Just need to find someone with a soul mark that looks like a target." He raised his hand to show John his mark. "Like this." 

John idly ran his hand down his tie. "Sure, Red. I'll see what I can find."

Hellboy almost missed his acquiescence as a wave of self loathing and despair flooded him through the soul bond. He shook his head at the weight of it before it suddenly faded. He wasn't sure, but it felt like his soulmate was trying to control the emotions being sent over the bond. Hellboy tried to send something comforting across the bond. He blinked and refocused on John, who looked amused at his inattention. 

"Sorry. Uh. Thanks, boyscout. Really." He said, flashing a smile at him. 

"No problem Red." John nodded to him and turned to leave. He paused to pet one of the friendly tom cats on his way out and then he was gone. Hellboy hoped the agent would be able to do something to help him. John was probably his greatest hope of finding his worried and despairing soulmate. 

_______________________________

John was internally freaking out. How he'd managed to keep a professional facade in the face of Hellboy was beyond his understanding. After all, who could really be expected not to panic when trying to keep a secret from their SOULMATE?

John speed walked towards the library, doing his best to smother the emotions he knew Hellboy could feel over their bond. The anxiety and sadness refused to be simply pushed aside, but he did his best. He came to the library's golden doors a few moments later and shoved his way inside, not even sparing a moment to admire their beauty as he usually did. He didn't have time. He knew that if Hellboy had come to him about this, Abe was next. Providing the icthyo sapien wasn't in on the mission already. 

The warm library left only a faint pang of comfort as John walked to the tank and waited by the glass. His impatience made him want to tap on the tank to get Abe's attention, but he refused to treat his friend the way children treated zoo animals. It wasn't even okay to do it to animals; it wasn't okay now. Soon enough, the blue man swam up to the glass. His large eyes blinked at John's worried expression and he twisted to hang in the same spot more comfortably. 

"You are incredibly worried John. Why don't you take a seat?" The sapien suggested kindly. 

"I can't. I... I'm to antsy right now. Abe... Abe what do I do?" He asked imploringly. "Hellboy wants me to find his soulmate, but... if he finds out it's me..." John hung his head, feeling the prickle of withheld tears in the backs of his eyes. "Hellboy won't want someone like me for a mate." He finished sadly. He felt a warm burst of comforting emotion through the bond and fought to tamp down on his emotions again. 

Abe tilted his head, watching the young agent curiously. "Red wants to find his mate. I think he would be happy just to know who it is." 

"Not if it's me, Abe." Despair threatened to choke him again and another wave of soft warmth crossed the bond. John closed his eyes, enjoying what felt like a forbidden treasure, just for a moment. 

"Red likes you, John." Abe replied. The agent was unconvinced. 

"I annoy him..." John rubbed a hand over the middle of his chest, over his soul mark, subconsciously. 

"Everyone annoys him." Abe said, humor tingeing his tone. "I think you should at least tell him. This is your chance to have him love you the way you love him."

John flinched at the use of the L-word. He tried not to think about his feelings for Hellboy. They only made him sad, knowing they couldn't possibly be reciprocated. 

"John..." He looked up into the dark eyes of his friend's comforting gaze. "This is a chance you should take. You will forever regret it if you don't." 

Pain suffused John again. The pain of his heart breaking. Well, who was he kidding? His heart was already broken. It had broken when he saw Hellboy and Liz together. Everything since then had just been stirring around the shards. 

Taking a deep breath, making the hardest decision of his life, John nodded. "Okay Abe.... okay... I'll tell him." He promised. 

"I think you will be pleasantly surprised, John." His friend said sincerely. John mutely nodded, his understanding not his agreement, and started back out of the room. 

He was startled when the door swung open before he could reach it. Hellboy marched through, his tail whipping around behind him agitatedly. If he focused, John could feel the worry over their bond. He realized, with a bit of shock, that it was for him. Hellboy seemed to be startled to see John standing there as the door swung closed behind him. His tail slowed its whipping and his amber eyes narrowed on him. 

"Hey, boyscout..." He greeted. John shivered pleasantly at the nickname. He swallowed hard, making up his mind to finally be honest. 

"I know who your soulmate is, Red." He replied, so abruptly that it took a moment for his words to sink in. When they did, Hellboy's eyes widened. 

"That was fast." 

John bit his lip. "Yeah... well... I knew... before we talked..." He revealed honestly. Hellboy's brows knit together as he frowned. 

"Why didn't-"

"It's me, Red." John blurted out, forcing the words from his lips before he had a chance to convince himself this was a bad idea. Hellboy, for his part, was remarkably fast on the uptake. 

"You?" He asked. John expected disbelief in his tone, but there was none. Over the bond, all he felt was curiosity. 

John flipped his tie over his shoulder and carefully began to unbutton his shirt. He pulled the tank top beneath it out of the way, having to use all of his fingers to keep both shirts from covering the red concentric circles on his chest. 

He watched as realization dawned on his soulmate's face. As Hellboy remembered their first touch; the back of Hellboy's stone hand thumping lightly against the middle of John's chest right after the alarm went off for their first mission together. The demon reached out, his stone fingers brushing lightly over the tattoo-like marking on his liaison's skin. 

"You..." Hellboy said, his voice colored with wonder. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

John tried to hide the wave of sadness that rolled over him like a tsunami. "Because... Because you wouldn't want me... because you had Liz... because I'm not... I'm not worth... your time..." John trailed off into a whisper. 

He was fully prepared to go wallow in his rejection, to shed a few tears over what he could never have, when a blast of defiance hit him through the bond. He looked up to see Hellboy frowning deeply at him. 

"You're wrong." He growled, using that deep rumble of his voice that always turned John to jelly. The agent swallowed and opened his mouth to say something about how he could never be worthy of a hero like Hellboy, only to have his words cut off by solid arms hauling him into a hard slab of a chest. "You're wrong, John." 

"Red-" His voice was muffled by the shirt and muscles he was pressed so comfortingly into. "I'm-" 

"No. You listen t' me now." The demon commanded. John's protests died in his throat. "You have been nothing but good to me. You've helped me at every turn. Saved me from myself in Russia. Tried to get Liz back for me even though you musta known we were soulmates. You treat me an' everyone else like equals. You're kind and funny and adorable. I'd be happy to have you as my mate."

John tensed against him, waiting for a "but" that never came. He felt Hellboy's tail curl around his waist and his hand stroking through his brown hair. After a moment, he tried talking again, having to clear his throat from the tightness choking him. 

"I thought... you hated me..." He finally managed.

Hellboy's stone curled around his back tight enough to comfort without crushing him. "Never, boyscout." He swore. 

John finally broke down, wrapping his arms around the demon tightly. A sob of relief broke past his lips before he could contain it and he felt fondness roll across their bond. 

"I like you, John... And I can't wait to love you." Hellboy promised. The agent tightened his grip on the demon. 

"I want to love you too Red." He said softly, not mentioning that he probably already did. 

The was a shift from the warm chest in front of him as Hellboy leaned down. Then they were face to face. "Mine." Hellboy stated softly, cupping John's cheek. 

"Mine too." John replied with the softest of smiles. The demon smirked at him gently. 

"You got that right, boyscout."


End file.
